Rifles

Self-defense is man’s natural instinct. He has looked for different ways of protecting himself since the inception of civilization. Sophisticated armaments slowly replaced crude stone weapons over the ages. Today mankind is equipped with such lethal weapons that misjudgment and indiscriminate use of any can cause devastation of unconceivable proportion. The rifle is an important firearm, which has been used by man over centuries to attack as well as defend and to establish his supremacy. It is designed to position on the shoulder and fire.

How did the rifle get its name? The interior wall of the barrel of the rifle is carved with grooves also known as ‘ rifling’. The gun came to be known as a ‘rifled gun’ because of these inner surface grooves. When the tip of these undulations come in contact with the bullet or projectile, a spinning motion is imparted which not only helps to stabilize the bullet but increase its accuracy and range. Today we use riffles for sports, hunting and warfare.

It is difficult to say when actually the story of the rifle began. In a Swiss government edict we find the mention of rifled arms. These were not very effective as they were used with crude cannonballs and bullets of that time. It is difficult to pinpoint the origin of the rifle. It may have originated in fifteenth century Europe. Earlier, the use of muskets, or light guns with long barrels, was very common. Their bores had to be cleaned of smoke and soot frequently. Vigorous and repeated scrubbing led to the formation of ‘soot grooves’, which in turn led to the enhancement of accuracy. This is however conjectural. It was another three hundred years before the weapon came to be used largely by the infantry. It replaced the musket because of the less loading time it required. In the nineteenth century a weapon called the ‘rifled musket came to be used and the British army deployed rifle regiments equipped with the ‘baker rifle’ against Portugal and Spain. Their weapons proved to be effective because of their range and accuracy.

During the First World War the rifle proved to be the most important weapon for the infantry despite the availability of more advanced technology in the form of machine guns, grenade and mortar. The infantry had to march forward during an assault and the machine gun proved to be cumbersome owing to its weight and bulk. The effectiveness of mortar was reduced by the fact that it involved a single shot, and as for grenade, transportation in buckets proved tiring and the supplies were exhausted easily. In such a scenario the rifle proved to be the most important weapon of assault. The German army used the German Mauser. However its disadvantage lay in the fact that its magazine could hold only five cartridges. It was however used extensively for sniping. The British soldiers were equipped with the British Lee Enfield with a ten-cartridge capacity. It was dependable and sturdy and was used even in the Second World War. Even the U.S and Canadian army adopted this model. The French army used the French Berthier and the Springfield.U.S. Carbine, a type of short-barreled rifle, was also used in the First World War.

The bloodbath and butchery of the First World War was the greatest vilification and at the same time vindication of the rifle. The war saw extensive use of the Lee-Enfield rifles, which had a firing range of about one mile. It was difficult to cause rampage with individual firing but attack from a platoon produced the effect of an assault caused by a machine gun. By the Second World War its use was slowly phasing out as it was unanimously accepted that distant assaults were best carried out with machine guns and attention was being diverted towards more advanced and compact weaponry. Anti material rifles is the latest development. The Barrett M82A1 developed by U.S.A. is the best example of such rifle. It is used to attack radio trucks, control vehicles and even engines of army aircraft. Anti material rifles are unsuitable for attacks on humans as their bulk and massive recoil impact render them less practical. In 2002 Rob Furlong, a Canadian army personnel, shot a Taliban rebel group in Afghanistan from a distance of 2,430 meters in the course of Operation Anaconda with a McMillan TAC-50 rifle.

The story of the rifle remains incomplete without a discussion on the different types of rifles. The air rifle makes use of compressed air or gas for firing projectiles. Such rifles are mainly used for hunting and sporting events. The cavalry of the Union Army adopted Spencer repeating rifle during American Civil War. A lighter and smaller version was the Spenser Carbine. Automatic rifles are self-loading in nature but are incapable of firing automatically. The assault rifle is a sub category of automatic rifle.eg The Kalashnikov AK-47.The more expensive Double Barreled Rifle consists of two barrels as a result of which the recoil impact is greater. This rifle was once very popular in India as well as Africa for hunting purposes as 2 quick shots were fired one after the other. The Lloyd Rifle, named after its inventor David Lloyd is highly accurate at long ranges. The Anti Material Rifle is effective for targeting enemies at a long range at a low cost. Some other important names are the Battle Rifle, Sniper Rifle, Recoilless Rifle, and Pennsylvania or Kentucky Rifle.

Nowadays rifles are very commonly used for hunting as well as sporting events. The AR-15 and AK-47 are today popular in U.S.A for shooting target. The use of these kinds of rifles is forbidden or restricted. So single shot rifles are used instead. The story of the rifle continues as science and technology continues to work at it in order to bring in greater efficacy and utility.

15 Comments

Now that NY state has declared war on my Ruger Mini 14 and Diane Feinstein is after it too....Have decided to stick with my 12 gauge pump ( #4 buck throws out about 30 projectiles per round, I believe)...and My Remington 1903a3 Springfield. The 30.06 is man stopper enough and with stripper clips I am pretty fast in reloading...

QUESTION....what commercial rear site can I get for the Springfield? The mil sight is zeroed for 300 yards, and I am an old geezer, I don't think I can SEE 300 yards....Want some site that either replaces the military site in the "U" fitting or something I can drill and mount to the side of the "U".
I don't want anything that needs to be drilled and tapped in the receiver.

I was playing around with a Muzzelite plastic bull pup stock for the Mini 14, but a pistol grip makes the stock an assault rifle according to the 2013 NY gun law.... and I don;t feel like registering it as such according to the 2013 NY gun law. I have some 30 round mags that I will cut up to make 3, 7 round mags, the limit you can have in NY state. I don't think Diane Feinstein will get to outlaw the Ruger in the carbine wood stock...just the tricked out Assault stocks that are out there with rails etc......

IF any one has any experience about cutting magazines and soldering them back up...or replacing the rear site of the springfield...please let me [email protected]

Oh, and keep the guns and girls pics coming...I may be an old geezer but I am not dead yet...

Call me old fashioned, but the problem of website purchasing is trying stuff before you open the wallet. I'm back in the States in July, based in West Palm Beach but I probably over in Vicksberg too so I'm gonna look for some shops too.

I do not understand all the interest in these pieces of s--t !!!! I had the mis-fortune of having to use one, a XM-16A1, in combat in Nam and it almost got me killed !!!.
I put the last 6 rounds from the mag into a NVA's chest. Didn't even slow him dowm. What stopped him was ONE round from a 1911 at about 12 - 15 feet. If I hadn't been able to stop him, he would have run that bayoneted SKS thru me !!
The next morning, at body count, I found and looked at the corpse. There were six little holes in the chest and 1 big one just above the belt. Turned it over and found six little holes coming out the back and a big lump under the left shoulder blade.
I know if I has been armed with a RIFLE, he would have dropped with the first round. I would perfer a FN FAL, but a M-14 would have done just as well. Hell, I would have even taken an AK !!!!

There is no comparison to what was issued in Vietnam and what is Issued today. As Reaper has mentioned both have evolved over the years. With the number of Stoner based weapons on this planet there really shouldn't be any question on the use or validity or the AR/Mx platform being a proven Battle Rifle.

When they issued the M16 it was not the same weapon which actually won the contract and was selected to be built and issued to the US Military nor was it the same ammo. go figure, someone wanted to save money

Personally I think they should have stuck with the 308 and adopted the AR10. The round would have been realistically more effective on all accounts, except humping it. But then again a 30 call bullet coming out of a 308 cartridge would have penetrated the foliage, hitting branches or what have you and still seriously wounded if not killed anyone it hit instead of deflecting or being spent in the base of a Palm tree or the stalks of Elephant Ears.

Glad you had the 45 handy, but you might consider checking out one of the newer AR's with newer Ammo designs, you might be surprised.

No sir, he fell into that bullet...
Never argue with a stupid person. They'll just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience!!

Got to post this here as there isn't a category for Gear... I need a cold weather jacket, and I'm talking mean cold, when out in the European Alps hunting AND I need it for work in foreign parts too. My problem is I need camouflage and it has to function for shooting and helping to keep me warm for extended periods of time... BUT I can't be walking around looking like I'm in uniform. It's got to work but not make me stand out like a bull in cow shed. Any Ideas?

Of course maybe I ain't workin' this Guns Lot site right, so sorry if that's it, but I'm interested nobody's interested in an opinion on this... Perhaps you're sittin' 'round pullin' a beer or bathing in warm weather n'never crossing boarders or moving through groups of civvies. Otherwise, come on folks, give me a tip!